Liturgical Quod Libets

In the old days, things used to be simple. The Mass and the rites of the Church were clearly explained, priests were expected to follow what was written in the Sacred Books, and to introduce any innovations of one's own would have seemed the height of impiety.

But in the post-Conciliar world of the Novus Ordo Missae, a multiplicity of liturgical-pastoral "options" has led to a cluster of confusion in which the same liturgical action can look drastically different depending on who is officiating it and what options they choose, leading to what the late Fr. Richard Gilsdorf called the "madness of the unpastoral aspects of optionalism" [1]. And this is possible even when we follow the rubrics; we know that on top of that it very frequently is the case that the rubrics are not followed at all, leading to liturgies that are unedifying and in some cases antithetical to the true spirit of Catholic worship. All over the world faithful Catholics are befuddled by the absurdity that goes on in the Catholuc liturgy, all of which causes them to scratch their heads and ask one another, "Is that allowed?"

In the old days, a Scholastic doctor used to hold sessions called "Quod Libets" in which students could ask questions about any subject and the professor would be expected to spontaneously answer. Besides being a means of testing a doctor's knowledge, it was great fun, and Quod Libets were usually held once per week at medieval universities. Here, Unam Sanctam Catholicam presents Liturgical Quod Libets, a forum where the multiplicity of questions that arise due to the sad state of the Catholic liturgy can be authoritatively answered.